SJC finds city fire ordinance preempted

The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the city of Springfield cannot impose stricter fire prevention requirements than those established in the State Building Code.

The code permits the installation of any one of four types of approved “fire protective signaling systems and automatic fire detection systems” in buildings throughout the commonwealth.

When the city enacted an ordinance that, in essence, proscribes the installation of all but one of the systems allowed by the code, the SJC found the ordinance to be preempted.

“[T]he ordinance would frustrate the achievement of the stated statutory purpose of having centralized, Statewide standards in this area,” Justice Barbara A. Lenk wrote for a unanimous court. “If all municipalities in the Commonwealth were allowed to enact similarly restrictive ordinances and bylaws, a patchwork of building regulations would ensue.”